Free Republic

According to unconfirmed reports, General Zhang Youxia, China’s vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), sent a company of troops (over a hundred or more) to the government’s Yingxi Hotel in western Beijing on 18 January. Their mission was to arrest Xi Jinping. A few hours before, the Chinese president – alerted by an informant – set in motion countermeasures. Troops under the command of Cao Qi, head of Xi’s Central Guards Bureau, ambushed Zhang’s soldiers. In the ensuing gunfight at Yangxi Hotel, nine guards were reportedly killed along with dozens of Zhang Youxia’s soldiers. Throughout China, military movements have...

He Weidong was China second highest ranking official in the militaryThe Chinese Communist Party has expelled nine top generals in one of its largest public crackdowns on the military in decades.Nine men were suspected of serious financial crimes, a statement released by China's defence ministry said.Most of them were three-star generals and part of the party's decision-making Central Committee. They have also been expelled from the military.While the statement cast the expulsion as part of an anti-corruption drive, analysts say it could also be seen as a political purge. It comes on the eve of the party's plenum where the...